


Lightning Strike

by corvidae9



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Parentheses as a plot device. :D
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-24
Updated: 2006-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:27:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29459754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidae9/pseuds/corvidae9
Summary: There were days that Luna woke sure that Harry Potter stood under her windowsill and days that she swore he was at her door (knocking or maybe just standing); afternoons when she made extra tea; mornings she rushed downstairs certain he was just there in the kitchen and still others where she absolutely knew that when she leaned back and rolled over he would be lying beside her. The fact that none of these things had ever happened did not stop her from believing that they would.
Relationships: Post-HBP Harry/Luna
Kudos: 2





	Lightning Strike

**Author's Note:**

> Written for sahiya in the 2005/06 dearsanta exchange. Happy New Year! and Happy Belated Christmas!! Dearsanta was the comm I failed desperately in my anxiety-ridden dramatic exit from LJ, but I've always loved this story, and I hope you do, too.

There were days that Luna woke sure that Harry Potter stood under her windowsill and days that she swore he was at her door (knocking or maybe just standing); afternoons when she made extra tea; mornings she rushed downstairs certain he was just there in the kitchen and still others where she absolutely knew that when she leaned back and rolled over he would be lying beside her.

The fact that none of these things had ever happened did not stop her from believing that they would; after all, chances of them happening for the first time were statistically better that way.

Lightning striking, and all that.

Still. She sat up and watched the clouds glide across the inky sky, fleetingly obscuring moon (luna) and stars (orion = the hunter = harry) from view by turns. Orion was hidden more often than not and while Luna was not necessarily displeased, she was not at all deterred (though by rights, the portents were clear that she ought to be).

Instead, she blew on the window and drew a lightning bolt in her breath with her pale, outstretched finger and thought that maybe it was time for a warmer dressing gown and that maybe it was time for wayward friends (and more) to find their way back home.

###

_The day had been bright and warm, the wedding filled with beautiful and scared people with wands tucked into their expensive formalwear (mostly dress robes) who were smiling and dancing when they weren't busy talking and pretending to not be scared._

_Except Luna. Her wand was behind her ear._

_And Harry. He was busy not bothering to look anything but withdrawn and sort of wistful._

_Luna walked up and smiled as best she could (rather well). "Harry. Hello. I won't ask if you're having a good time because you're not, I don't think, but if I ask you'll have to nod and smile that Abashed Smile Through Downcast Lashes and say 'yes, thank you. you?' and that would be a pointless waste. How is your punch?"_

_Blinking, Harry managed a genuine smile, and though it was still abashed through downcast lashes, it warmed her from the tippy toes of her sparkling green sandals to the shiny ribbons dangling from her elaborately updone hair. "It's great, thanks. I managed a cup before Fred spiked it. Yours?"_

_Luna nodded, pleased. "That's good. Mine's from after. They've got a knack for it, haven't they?"_

_"Yeah," Harry answered. Oh, Harry. His one-word answers were always so... concise._

_Taking another sip, Luna smiled again, speaking as if she was inquiring over the weather or his spiffy tie. "You're leaving."_

_Startled, Harry managed to pull his eyes off of Ginny and Neville waltzing by (or possibly two-stepping) by. "Errr--"_

_"I heard Charlie talking. And I saw a pile of packed bags when I went in to use the loo that were far too utilitarian (not shiny enough) for Fleur's taste. Not to mention the fact that Ronald's mum and brothers keep pulling him aside to talk, when it's obvious he's trying to talk to Hermione, so I assume they're going with you. Do you know where?"_

_Harry stared off again, only this time not looking at either Ginny or Neville. "Sort of... it's... pretty cracked."_

_Nodding, Luna produced a small item dangling from a thin chain (big enough to fit around her mother's wrist) from her tiny handbag and held it out to Harry. "Here. Take it with you."_

_Harry reached out and gently placed his hand behind it as he inspected it; a small, pewter figurine hanging on a chain... a rabbit of some kind? "Wh-"_

_"Peter Cottontail had a knack for disobeying but he managed to get out of all the scrapes he got himself into with little other than a lost coat." She let the small pewter rabbit fall into his open palm and closed her hand around his. "If that's the worst that happens to you, I'll be glad to hear it. Also he was invented by a woman named Potter, and as such, was obviously meant to help you."_

_Harry stared at the rabibit as it disappeared into his hand, her soft fingers closed around his, and thought about mouthing his thanks._

_"Here. Take this, too," Luna said as she stretched up (further now) to place a kiss on his cheek. The motion, however, startled him out of his reverie and he looked up, directly into it, his mouth crashing roughly into hers._

_As unexpected as it had been, it was not unwelcome. Luna pressed closer and Harry held onto her arm with his free hand and there was no earthly reason to stop kissing her until it was either that or breathe. Had it not been an automatic physiological response, there may have been doubt as to which was more important._

_When they finally did break apart, Luna was still holding onto his hand and his robes. Harry was still holding her arm, and both were sort of staring wide-eyed (though for Luna this was a far more natural state of affairs). She worried that it might be a little too different for Harry._

_Her breathing was loud and rushed and she stepped herself more effectively between him and the dancefloor to obscure his view. Harry was flushed and scared and still so very beautiful and Luna thought he maybe she suddenly understood why watching him kiss Ginny had made her hide in her dormitory to revise. Or pretend to. While hiding._

_The fingers at the very end of the arm he was holding were still sort of digging into his dress robes (because she didn't want to let go) and Luna met his eyes without hesitation. "When do you leave?"_

_To Harry's credit, he managed to supress another glance toward the dancefloor, his eyes stopping mid-dart to meet Luna's again. "Tomorrow morning."_

_Luna didn't bother being sly. She almost never was, true, but now especially. "Can we do that again sometime before then? Somewhere it's easier for you not to feel guilty?"_

_Harry nodded and took her hand and walked her around to the edges of the property (not so far from her own) and sat in the circle of her arms for a long while as the sun sank properly. He didn't bother promising things he couldn't deliver (forever) (tomorrow) (i love you), but did finally find himself tucking his outer robes underneath her so she woudn't get grass stains on her pretty dress; and he did kiss her hard and leave small marks well out of sight and he did find himself pushing into her, immediately worrying because of the way she bit her lip (to stop from squealing 'ouch') (or maybe laughing) before she shushed him properly and assured him that he was fine, this was fine (better than fine) (perfect) and a little bit later taught him the trick of being polite and returning favors (and she really had to bite her lip then)._

_Eventually, it was dark and late and getting cold and no one bothered to come looking for them. In Luna's estimation, this meant that someone had seen them leave and was busy covering for them so as not to worry Someone In Charge (or Hermione)._

_There were charms to lift dirt (and stains) and freshen clothes and hair and they managed to creep back in to the party. Fred smacked George on the arm and loudly declared that Harry had been hiding by the snacks, just as he suspected, and accused him of spiking the punch._

_Luna tried to drift into the background and find someone that would lie loudly about where she'd been, but all she found was Ginny glaring (right through her dress at her spotted knickers and gnawed-upon collarbone). She asked her father if they could go home and he slipped her cloak over her shoulders once inside the house and walked her to the Floo, watching her carefully because something obviously Wasn't Quite Right._

_As she took a handful of Floo powder in shaky hand (that still wished it held a handful of dark hair instead), a voice accompanied by the slam of a door shouted, "Luna, wait!" and as such, she did._

_Harry ran up and without hesitation took her face in his hands and kissed her once, slid his arms around her and whispered things that said "Thank you" and "You're so beautiful" and "I'm so sorry; I wish I could come back". It was all she could do to nod and murmur something back, though what she wasn't terribly sure because her mind was filled with Harry. When he stood back, her father shook his hand and soon enough Harry melted into a green-tinged background as she whirled away home._

_In her tub in her hot water in her bathroom upstairs in her house, Luna fit her fingers into the faint marks on her hip as she soaked and wondered (no notes here; it was quite a range of wondering)._

###

Luna's father would never have considered asking her to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas hols but this year he had and this year she had respectfully declined to heed the request and come home anyway. Curled safe (as could be) in her bed, she stared out of the window yet again, unwilling to let go of the certainty that Harry was nearby as she had dreamed him, but equally unwilling to get up and roam the house and destroy her lovely dream so thoroughly.

In the wee hours of Christmas morning, Luna sat up and stared from the window and could barely see the faint glow of the moon (luna) obscured by thick, roiling layers of puffy storm clouds as snow fell to earth and softly blanketed the ground (among other things). The stars (Harry, always Harry) were nowhere in sight. Instead, she blew on the window and this time drew her own bright shining star in her breath and wished.

In Ravenclaw house, there are those that believe in coincidence and rationalize it using varying methods of Quantum Arithmancy, and those that dismiss it as a minor disruption in the normal patterns of Subconscious Sight. Luna was neither (because she _did_ believe it and didn't need to know how).

Not that it mattered at all, as the reflection in the fading condensation revealed her slowly opening bedroom door. Blinking, she whipped around in time to see him sliding in and shutting the door quietly behind himself and his abashed, self-conscious smile with a hint of anger, and she refused to shut her eyes until his arms were around her and her face was buried in his cold, rough coat (because it might have been another dream, but it wasn't).

Harry murmured his Happy Christmas wishes and so much more and Luna didn't need to hear anything past, "I'm here" (but she did, anyway).

Lightning striking, and all that. 


End file.
